Spring 2016

Turkey’s Struggle Against the Foreign Terrorist Fighters of DAESH

Haldun YALÇINKAYA

DAESH is a terrorist organisation with a
Salafist jihadist ideology that threatens the
civilized world. Moreover, like a contagious
agent of a cancer cell to the rest of the body,
the foreign terrorist fighters of DAESH are a
growing threat against their states of origin,
the states they transit, and the states where
they are active, as well as their neighbouring
zones. Turkey falls under all these categories.
Between 2014 and 2016, 159 individuals in
Turkey lost their lives because of terror attacks
executed by the foreign terrorist fighters. Data
from these attacks are analysed in the article.
While increased international cooperation on
the use of no-entry lists, has produced some
positive improvements in the efforts against
foreign terrorist fighters, such collaboration
should extend to other measures as well. In
conclusion, the article argues that while Turkey
experienced the initial wave of terrorist attacks
by returnees, foreign terrorist fighters might
cause a metastasis to the rest of the world.
Moreover, the contagious effect of foreign
fighters for violence is not limited to DAESH
and needs to be examined within other terrorist
organizations.